JPH0611760A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent unintended photographing from being executed by allowing a photographer to confirm an irradiating angle which can be selected within a finder visual field and displaying the selected irradiating angle. CONSTITUTION:Functions that the lens information of a mounted lens 2 is detected by a lens information detection means 1, the irradiating angles which can be selected by the irradiating angle controller 4 of a stroboscope based on the information is displayed on a display means 6, the irradiating angle which is desired to be selected by the photographer is decided among them by an irradiating angle set means 5 and the selected irradiating angle is displayed on the display means 6 are provided. Besides, a function that the lens is controlled so as to automatically zoom to a wide-angle end being a direction that the range where the irradiating angle can be taken is expanded when it is detected by the detection means 1 that the mounted lens is a zoom lens with a motor-driven control system power zoom function is provided. Therefore, the part of a photographing area can be brightly photographed or a photograph where a main object is emphasized can be taken by converging the irradiating angle of emitted light.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera having a function of controlling a strobe device capable of changing a light emission irradiation angle, and more particularly to a camera capable of taking a photograph which makes a main subject stand out. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a camera equipped with a zoom strobe that changes the light distribution characteristic in accordance with the movement of a zoomable photographing lens is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-50324. Further, there is a zoom strobe device for a backlight compatible camera, which is provided with an irradiation angle varying means for narrowing the irradiation angle of stroboscopic light emission toward the center side of the field image when detecting a backlit state.
This is well known in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 19936 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-161417, and the irradiation range in which the irradiation range of the strobe is adjusted to the object magnification is displayed in the viewfinder field. The irradiation angle control device is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-287334.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, it is not possible to know the irradiation angle that the photographer can select, and it is possible to confirm the irradiation angle that the photographer can select in a camera such as a zoom lens whose focal length changes. It wasn't something. Further, there is no disclosure about combination with a strobe with a variable irradiation angle when an electrically controllable power zoom lens is attached.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a photograph with a special effect by changing the irradiation angle of a variable irradiation angle strobe so that a part of the photographing area can be photographed brightly or a main subject can be emphasized. It is to provide a camera that does.

[0005]

The camera according to the present invention comprises:
The photographer can confirm the irradiation angle that can be selected in the viewfinder field, and by displaying the selected irradiation angle, it is possible to prevent unintended photographing.

Further, the camera of the present invention has a function of improving the operability of the manual zoom strobe by combining with the auto zoom when the power zoom lens is mounted. More specifically, in the camera according to the present invention, the lens information of the mounted lens is detected by the lens information detecting means, and based on the information, the control means in the camera displays the selectable irradiation angle on the display means. However, it has a function of determining the irradiation angle desired by the photographer from among them by the irradiation angle setting means, and displaying the selected irradiation angle on the display means.

Further, when the lens information detecting means detects that the mounted lens is a zoom lens having a power zoom function by electric control, it is automatically moved to the wide-angle end, which is a direction in which the range of the irradiation angle can be expanded. It has the function of zooming.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a single-lens reflex camera with a built-in flash as an embodiment of the present invention.

The camera of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The lens information of the mounted lens 2 is detected by the lens information detecting means 1, and based on the information, the strobe irradiation angle control device 4 displays the selectable irradiation angle on the display means 6, and the image is taken from the selected irradiation angle. The irradiation angle setting means 5 determines the irradiation angle desired by the operator, and the selected irradiation angle is displayed on the display means 6.

Further, when the lens information detecting means 2 detects that the mounted lens is a zoom lens having an electrically controlled power zoom function, it is automatically moved to the wide-angle end, which is the direction in which the range of the irradiation angle can be expanded. It has a function of controlling the lens so as to perform zooming.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the camera of this embodiment.
In FIG. 2, an interchangeable lens mount 8 is provided on the front surface of the camera body 7 so that information can be exchanged by contacting the interchangeable lens with an electric contact block so that the drive motor and diaphragm device in the interchangeable lens can be controlled. It has become. On the upper surface of the camera body 7, a mode switching unit 9
Therefore, the mode can be selected according to the photographer's preference. Reference numeral 10 is a stroboscopic light emitting section, and 11 is a multipurpose dial operating section, which can change the exposure, the stroboscopic irradiation angle, and the shutter speed according to the selected mode. In addition, the hot shoe 12 to attach an external strobe,
A shutter button 13 and a camera body display unit 14 are provided. The shutter button 13 is pressed in two steps, and distance measurement and photometry are performed in the first step, and the shutter is released in the second step. The camera body display unit 14 displays the current mode, exposure information, shutter speed, the number of film shots, and the like.

The mode switching section 9 has a low-luminance automatic light emission mode position indicated by "AUTO" and a forced light emission mode position indicated by "ON".

[0014]

[Outer 1]

Manual zoom strobe position indicated by,
It has a strobe light emission stop mode position shown as "OFF" and is fixed to either one. The low-luminance automatic light emission mode of "AUTO" automatically switches from normal program AE photography to strobe photography at low luminance. In the "ON" forced flash mode, the flash is always emitted at the time of release so that the strobe light can be used as an auxiliary light for daytime synchronized shooting.

[0016]

[Outside 2]

In the manual zoom strobe mode of
The irradiation angle of the zoom strobe can be changed by the dial unit 11. In the "OFF" strobe light emission stop mode, the automatic light emission mode is canceled and the strobe light emission is not always performed. Therefore, when the brightness is low, a program is selected in which the shutter speed is set slow and the exposure time is extended.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which all the displays in the viewfinder of the camera are displayed. Reference numeral 15 in the drawing denotes an auto-focus distance measuring frame, which has three in this embodiment, which can be selected by the operation unit 11 during distance measurement, and the frame selected by the CPU of the camera is displayed. It is like this. In addition, 16 is a flash irradiation range display

[0019]

[Outside 3]

The frames displayed in the mode can be selected by the operation unit 11, but the frames that can be selected are limited by the focal length of the mounted lens.

[0021]

[Outside 4]

In the manual zoom strobe mode of 17,

[0023]

[Outside 5]

Is turned on. It is assumed that the display within the field of view of the finder is a known superimpose display such as a transmission type liquid crystal display device.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the internal structure of the camera of this embodiment.
Shown in. In this embodiment, the power zoom lens barrel is mounted.

The mounted zoom lens barrel has a zooming lens 21 and a focusing lens 22, which can be photographed by moving in the direction of the optical axis. The zooming lens 21 is moved by a zooming motor 23.
A zooming drive circuit 24 for driving the zooming motor 23 which is advanced and retracted is connected to the zooming motor 23. Similarly, the focusing lens 22 is moved back and forth by a focusing motor 25, and a focusing drive circuit 26 for driving the motor 25 is connected to the motor 25.

The zooming drive circuit 24 and the focusing drive circuit 26 are connected to the CPU 29 in the camera body. The CPU 29 is a microcomputer that controls the camera, and additionally, the release signal generating circuit 3
0, mode setting circuit 31, dial counter 32, mirror drive circuit 33, strobe drive circuit 34, irradiation angle variable device 35, display circuit 36, film feed drive circuit 37 photometric device 38, distance measuring device 39, diaphragm drive circuit 27. The release signal generating circuit 30 connected to the shutter button 1
The pressing operation of 3 is converted into an electric signal and output to the CPU 29, and the switch 1 (not shown) is turned on at the first stage and the switch 2 (not shown) is turned on at the second stage. The mode setting circuit 31 sets the mode "AUTO" or "ON".

[0028]

[Outside 6]

The mode data such as "OFF" is output to the CPU 29 according to the position of the mode switching section 9. The dial counter 32 counts the number of rotation clicks of the multipurpose dial operation unit 11 and outputs it to the CPU 29. The mirror drive circuit 33 moves a mirror (not shown) up and down by a motor 40 connected thereto in response to an input signal from the CPU 29. The flash drive circuit 34 is the CPU 2
A capacitor (not shown) in the circuit is charged by a charge start signal from 9 and a trigger signal corresponding to the release signal is C
The strobe light emitting section 10 is caused to emit light when input from the PU 29.

The irradiation angle varying device 35 is

[0031]

[Outside 7]

In the manual zoom strobe mode indicated by (3), this is a device for adjusting the irradiation angle according to the number of rotation clicks of the dial operating section 11. The display circuit 36
Is a well-known display circuit for performing display in the viewfinder 14 (FIG. 3) on the upper part of the camera and displays the aperture value, shutter speed, shooting mode, focus point, irradiation angle range, etc. according to the signal output by the CPU 29. It can be carried out. The film feed drive circuit 37 drives the film feed motor 41 in response to an input signal from the CPU 29 after the release is completed or when the film is rewound.

In this embodiment, the irradiation angle is the focal length 2
Only the ranges corresponding to 4 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm and 80 mm can be selected. Therefore, the relationship between the display in the finder, the focal length of the mounted lens, and the strobe irradiation angle is controlled so as to have the relationship shown in the table of FIG. For example, when the focal length of the lens is 28 mm, the display corresponding to (a) in FIG. 5 is the irradiation angle corresponding to the focal length of 24 mm, similarly (b) is 35 mm, (c) is 50 mm,
(D) corresponds to 80 mm, respectively. The shaded area in the table indicates that the irradiation angle cannot be selected when the focal length of the lens is in each range on the left.

Next, the operation of the camera when the manual zoom strobe mode is selected will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. When the camera is powered on, all the RAMs in the microcomputer CPU 29 are cleared and initialized, and the program starts control from START. In # 1 shown in FIG. 8, the mode at the absolute position is determined by the mode switching unit 9. Where the above

[0035]

[Outside 8]

When the manual zoom strobe mode indicated by is detected, the routine shown in FIG. 7 is entered.

The lens information is detected in # 101, and it is determined in # 102 whether or not the mounted lens is a power zoom lens that can be electrically controlled based on the lens information detected in # 101. If it is a power zoom lens, the zooming drive to the wide-angle end is performed at # 112 to widen the selection range of the irradiation angle range of the manual zoom strobe. Out of viewfinder with # 103

[0038]

[Outside 9]

The display 17 is turned on. Charging of the strobe is started at # 104, and dial reset is performed at # 105. RA in which the irradiation angle data in the CPU 29 is entered in # 106
After resetting M, the current focal length is detected in # 107.

The focal length of the attached lens is 80 m
If it is determined in # 108 whether the distance is m or more, if 180 mm or more, the stroboscopic irradiation angle cannot be reduced to 80 mm or more in the present embodiment.

[0041]

[Outside 10]

The display 17 is blinked to warn that the irradiation angle cannot be narrowed down, and the dial operation is not accepted. After that, whether or not there is a change in focal length is detected in # 111, and when a change in focal length is detected, the process returns to # 105. # 1
When it is determined that the focal length is less than 80 mm in 08, # 1
At 13, it is determined whether the distance is 50 mm or more.

If it is 50 mm or more, proceed to # 114 and 5
If it is less than 0 mm, proceed to # 123. In # 113, the focal length of the lens is 50 mm or more and less than 80 mm.
More, all irradiation angles that can be selected are 50 mm and 80 mm
Therefore, only the irradiation angle display 16 (a) in FIG. 3 is displayed. This superimpose display disappears due to the interrupt processing that occurs 4 seconds later. Also, after this display, it disappears when the dial is operated.

When the dial operation is detected in # 115 and the dial operation is performed, the display in # 114 is erased and the process proceeds to # 117. If the dial is not operated, the process proceeds to # 116. # 1
16, the irradiation angle data corresponding to 50 mm is stored in the RAM.
To enter. In # 117, the number of clicks on the dial operation unit 11 is counted, and the irradiation angle corresponding to the number of clicks is calculated in # 1.
At 18, display the superimposed image in the viewfinder. This superimpose display disappears due to the interrupt processing that occurs after 50 msec. In # 119, the irradiation angle data corresponding to the irradiation angle display is stored in the CPU 29 as the R
Enter in AM. Then, at # 120, it is detected whether the focal length has changed (zoom operation), and if the focal length has changed, #
Similar to 111, the process returns to # 105, and if there is no change, the process proceeds to # 121. In # 121, it is checked whether the dial operation has been performed.
The irradiation angle information stored in is reset and the process proceeds to step # 117.
In # 123, it is determined whether the size is 35 mm or more, and the size is 35 mm.
If it is above, proceed to # 124, and if it is less than 35 mm, #
Proceed to 133. # 124: # 123: 35mm or more 5
Since it was judged to be less than 0 mm, the irradiation angle that can be selected is # 1.
Similar to 14, according to the table of FIG. 6, 35 mm, 50 mm, 80
Since the irradiation angle is equivalent to mm, 16 (a) 16 in FIG.
(B) is displayed and, like # 114, disappears after 4 seconds.

In # 133, the focal length is 35 in # 123.
Since it is determined to be less than mm, the irradiation angles that can be selected similarly to # 114 are the irradiation angles corresponding to 24 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, and 80 mm. Therefore, 16 (a) 16 (b) 16 of FIG.
(C) is displayed and similarly disappears after 4 seconds.

After # 124 and # 133, # 114
The same control as the following is performed. However, it is 35m for # 126
Input irradiation angle data equivalent to m, and in # 135, 24 mm
Enter the appropriate irradiation angle data.

In addition, depending on the focal length, FIG.
(A) and (b) loops in step # 127 and subsequent steps (a)
(B) (c) loop, (a) and (b) after # 136
(C) Control is performed in the loop of (d).

The display in # 118, # 128 and # 137 is in the order of FIG. 5 (a) .fwdarw. (B) .fwdarw. (C) .fwdarw. (D) .fwdarw. (A) every time the dial is rotated one click to the right. , Left rotation (a) → (d) → (c) → (b) → (a)
In this order, the irradiation angle frame to be displayed is switched depending on the rotating direction of the dial operation unit 11.

After the mode detection of # 1 in FIG. 8 and the control associated therewith, the photographing angle of view (focal length) is set, so the state of the switch 1 is determined in # 2. If it is ON, a known focus detection operation # 4 is performed after dial reset. If it is in focus, the focus display 18 is turned on at # 6 outside the viewfinder field. # 110, # 1 in # 7
16, # 119, # 126, # 129, # 135, # 1
After it is determined at # 8 that the superimposing display has disappeared, the irradiation angle varying device is driven so that the irradiation angle is adjusted according to the irradiation angle data input at 38, and then the known photometric operation # 9 is performed. Based on that, calculation is performed in # 10. The aperture value and shutter speed value resulting from the calculation are displayed outside the viewfinder field of view 19. In # 12, it is determined whether or not the strobe has been charged (charging is completed), and then the switch 2 is determined. When the switch 2 is turned on, the operation proceeds to the release operation # 18 at the time of flash photography, and the subsequent steps are shown in FIG. If the switch 2 is OFF, the switch 1 is determined in # 14, and if the switch 1 is still ON, the process returns to # 9.
If the switch 1 is OFF, the process returns to # 2. OFF in # 2
If so, a change in the focal length is detected in # 15. When the focal length changes, the process returns to # 105 in FIG. 7, and if not, the process proceeds to # 16.

In # 16, the dial operation is detected, and when it is detected, the process proceeds to FIG. At this time, the returning positions are divided into # 122, # 132, and # 141 according to the focal length of the lens.

# 1 when no dial operation is detected
Proceed to 17 to check whether the mode switching operation has been performed.
If the mode switching operation is performed, the process returns to # 1, and if there is no change, the process returns to # 2.

Next, the release operation during flash photography will be described with reference to FIG.

When the switch 2 is turned on, the mirror drive circuit 33 drives the motor 40 to raise the mirror in # 201, and an electric signal is output to the diaphragm drive circuit 27 in # 202 to drive the 1 aperture 28. After calculating the shutter speed value in real time in # 203 and setting it in the timer #
Proceed to 204. In # 204, the shutter front curtain (not shown) is run. In step # 205, the strobe drive circuit 34 causes the strobe light emitting section 10 to emit light. In step # 206, it is checked whether the previously calculated exposure time has elapsed. If the exposure time has not elapsed, the process proceeds to # 207 and the flash drive circuit 3
It is checked from 3 whether or not the strobe light emission stop signal is output. If the light emission stop signal is output, the strobe light emission is stopped in # 208, and the process returns to # 206. If the exposure time has elapsed in # 206, the process proceeds to # 209. In # 209, the rear curtain is run and the process proceeds to # 210. In # 210, the mirror 40 is driven by driving the motor 40 from the mirror driving circuit 33, and in # 211, an electric signal is sent to the film driving circuit 37 to drive the motor 41 to wind the film, thereby controlling the shutter, mirror and diaphragm. Charge and return to START.

In this embodiment, the stroboscopic irradiation angle can be set only at the positions corresponding to the focal lengths of 24 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm and 80 mm, but the irradiation angle may be set arbitrarily.

In # 114, # 124 and # 133 of FIG. 7, all the ranges substantially corresponding to the selectable irradiation angles are displayed, but they may be turned on sequentially.
Alternatively, only the display corresponding to the smallest irradiation angle among the selectable irradiation angles may be turned on. # 1 in FIG.
At 09

[0056]

[Outside 11]

Although it is warned that the irradiation angle cannot be narrowed by turning on, it may be a sound warning.

Although the above-described embodiment shows only the case where the present invention is applied to a single-lens reflex camera (lens exchange type camera) having a built-in variable-illumination-angle strobe device, the present invention is applied. Of course, it can be applied to a single-lens reflex camera to which a variable angle strobe device can be attached and a non-lens interchangeable type camera.

[0059]

As described above, according to the camera of the present invention, by narrowing the emission irradiation angle, it is possible to take a bright image of the photographing area or to emphasize a main subject and to take a photograph. By displaying the irradiation angle that can be selected depending on the distance in the viewfinder, the photographer can easily know the irradiation angle that can be selected, which is effective in preventing unintended photographing. Further, when the electrically controlled power zoom lens is attached, it is convenient because the selection of the irradiation angle is widened by zooming to the wide-angle end before setting the irradiation angle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the camera of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a viewfinder display and a superimposed portion of the camera of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal structure of the camera.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display state in a field of view of a finder.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a focal length of a lens of the camera, a strobe irradiation angle, and a display state.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the camera when the manual zoom strobe mode is selected.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the camera when the manual zoom strobe mode is selected.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the camera when the manual zoom strobe mode is selected.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Multipurpose dial operation part 16 ... Irradiation angle range display 17 ... Display part showing that it is in manual zoom strobe mode 7 ... Camera body 8 ... Mount 9 ... Mode switching part 10 ... Strobe light emitting part 12 ... Hot shoe 13 ... Shutter Button 14 ... Camera body display

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A strobe device having a variable emission angle, a lens barrel having a photographic optical system having a variable focal length, and a lens information detecting means for detecting lens information on the photographic optical system. In the camera, a light emission irradiation angle setting means for the photographer to set a light emission irradiation angle of the strobe device, and a display means for displaying the light emission irradiation angle set by the light emission irradiation angle setting means on the photographing screen in the viewfinder. And a control unit for displaying an irradiation angle selectable by the photographer on the display unit according to the focal length of the photographing optical system detected by the lens information detection unit. camera. 2. The control means, when the photographing optical system is not at the shortest selectable focal length, changes the photographing optical system to the shortest selectable focal length before setting the light emission irradiation angle of the strobe device. 2. The camera according to claim 1, having a function of displaying a selectable strobe light emission angle corresponding to the shortest focal length on the display means. 3. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the control means has a function of causing the display means to display a selectable light emission irradiation angle prior to a light emission irradiation angle setting operation by a photographer. . 4. A function of issuing a warning when the focal length of the photographing optical system is longer than the focal length of the photographing optical system corresponding to the minimum luminous emission angle of the luminous emission angles that can be selected by the photographer. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the control means has. 5. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera is configured such that the strobe device and the lens barrel can be detached from the camera body. 6. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the lens barrel is a lens barrel having a power zoom lens mechanism incorporated therein.